Artistically Tragic
by bittersweetties
Summary: I'm in love with Sasori Akasuna. I have been for a while. I'm smart, I'm athletic, I'm also tragically inartistic. How am I suppose to win his love like this? Especially with a certain blond trying to sabotage me every step of the way? SasorixOC DeiXOC
1. Chapter 1

This was just an Idea I came up with, and it's super short on purpose. I just want to see if people enjoy the idea. So depending on how many reviews I get, I'll either continue to story or just leave it as this.

* * *

Chapter 1

In elementary school, when kids were finger painting their faces, I recall him making a life sized model of a butterfly, and succeeding. In middle school, when we were all slaving away to get into the high school of our choice, he had already had 3 art exhibits to his name. Now in high school, he's still amazing, he's still talented, brilliant, and gorgeous. He's also still completely out of my league.

I don't know when it was that I fell in love with him, but if I had to pick a specific moment- okay. That's a lie. September 23 1993, at exactly 3:32 p.m.. The moment where second recess was right at it's peak and I was in grade three. How do I know this? Well, I remember because my mother came to pick me up, and I confessed to having butterflies in my stomach and she had the talk with me, checked the time and date and wrote it down. It's currently still pinned onto my fridge all these years later, under the title "Himawari's first crush." I imagine if I had others they would be pinned up too, but, he's been my only one for a very, very long time. I know I'm pathetic, but honestly, the boy is perfect. In fact, I hate admitting it, but he's prettier than me. I don't want to brag or anything, but I am a fairly attractive human being. No. I am more than fairly attractive. Dammit, I am good looking. I'm smart too. Not brainiac smart but decent smart. I'm athletic, and I'm hard working. I'm a great catch, honest. It's just.... I have no artistic ability. At all, and he's all about art.

I've never talked to him. I've smiled politely, nodded in acknowledgment, waved shyly. I mean, he knows I exist. He just doesn't care. But, that's in the past now. I've decided that I Himawari Fuyu, am going to capture Sasori Akasuna's heart!

* * *

:) So I know it's Akasuna no Sasori, but i'm leaving it Sasori Akasuna for now.  
I hope you like it and review, it's up to you whether I continue!


	2. Chapter 2: Plans

So, yes. I am aware of the fact that this chapter is super short, and I'm sorry for it, but my main story right now is the facts of life. However, I've been coming up with ideas for this story and I decided to try and get some stuff out. I've gotten ahead in FOL so I decided now would be a good time to start working on this. I'll try and update this regularly and hopefully I can pull through.

* * *

I am not a stalker.

Sasori Akasuna, the love of my life is one year older than me. This isn't really that big of a deal, except for the fact that it's a huge deal. You see, while I was off finishing my last year of middle school, he was off starting his first year of high school. Now, Suna middle school is a pretty small place, but Konoha High school is huge. Do you know how many girls go to Konoha High school? 1257, 1258 including me. Yes. It's a very, very, very big school. Do you know how many girls go Suna middle school? 230. I had trouble keeping his attention in middle school, how am I suppose to keep it in high school? Well, fortunately, love always has a way.

My best friend's name is Kankuro. He's a bit of an oddball whose into that whole guy wearing eyeliner kind of thing, but it runs in the family. I mean, his younger brother Gaara? He piles it on thick. In fact, Gaara actually looks a lot like Sasori, and he's in my age. I'd almost be attracted to him if I wasn't sure he'd try and strangle me in my sleep. Gaara's got this temper, and I mean a bad temper. So, Gaara's a no in that department. But, anyways, Kankuro happens to be my best friend.

He doesn't have much of a life outside of video games, computers, and puppets, but he's always been there for me. Now, Kankuro's skill regarding computers is just one of those amazing gifts that only come around once in a couple thousand years. Kankuro knew his stuff. So, when I asked him to hack into the Konoha High mainframe and arrange it so that me and Sasori could have as many classes as possible together, well, he did just that. Sure, part of it was because we were best friends, but the other part was because I didn't mind cleaning and doing his house chores. Not that I mind doing that kind of stuff. In fact, I kind of liked doing it. It's the housewife in me. Not that I believe that woman should housewives or anything like that, there's just a part of me that's very domesticated. I'm sure Sasori will be happy to have a wife who doesn't mind doing that kind of stuff.

I am not a stalker. Really, I'm not. I mean, I'm sure you might be sitting there having your doubts, but in all honesty, I'm just like any other girl who happens to have fallen madly in love with her gorgeous neighbor. Did I forget to mention we're neighbors? Yep. It's been this way since third grade when he moved in next door.

It's not that big of a deal, us being neighbors. I mean, it's not like our rooms are right next to each other, or the fact that when I glance out my window I have a perfectly good view of his room. It's also not like I spend a lot of time hiding behind my blinds watching him, especially when he sleeps, because he looks adorable when he sleeps. No, it's not like that at all.

I'm not a stalker. Honest, I'm not. You'd do the same if you were me, okay? I mean, he's so gorgeous. I can only imagine what those filthy high school girls thoughts consists of when they see him walk by, and they had a whole year ahead of me to try and pine for his attention. But no more. He will be mine. Tomorrow, my first day of high school begins, and then I shall commence operation capture Sasori Akasuna's heart! And yes, the exclamation mark is mandatory.

* * *

:) I hope you liked it, and I know it's short. The next one will definitely be longer. I just needed to get the basics out.

Please Review, the more Reviews I get, the more obligated I'll feel to updating.


	3. Chapter 3: English

:) The pros of high school stories? You can include all the characters you want. Enjoy!

* * *

High school. Full of teenage girls in short skirts with raging hormones. Those seductive tramps. However, I'm not all that worried. I mean, Sasori is too pure to be tempted by womanly charms, and since I'm his soul mate, I doubt anyone else even stands a chance. However, the love of my life has had an entire year of temptation to deal with. What if they got to him? Those wicked witches. No. No. I definitely will not think like that.

"Come on moron, English is this way." Kankuro, my best friend in the entire world, not to mention one of my few friends, was a year older than me and thus Sasori's age. Aside from giving me very informative insight into the male mind, he also knew his way around the school, which was an added benefit. With his help, I found it to English class without any problems at all.

The man behind the large desk, who I deemed the teacher, was sitting down and writing attentively in a notebook. He had this large tuft of white hair, white not gray, and was just dressed in black pants and a Hawaiian print shirt. He seemed really focused and I didn't want to bug him so I looked around the room. Thanks to Kankuro's help I arrived in English earlier than everyone else, and there was only one other person in the room. He was sitting at the back of the room by the window, just staring outside. He had messy black hair and was wearing the standard Konoha boys uniform. A white shirt, black pants, and a black tie with Konoha's symbol on it, which was just a green leaf. The girl's uniform was the same except with a kilt instead of a shirt. I headed towards the seat next to him and offered a nice smile. He ignored me.

"Um... can I sit here?" He turned towards me, gave me a quick once over, nodded, and then went to staring out the window and ignoring me. "Thanks." I think? Either he didn't like me, or he was always that quiet. I figured it couldn't be the former, I mean, I was a very nice person, so it had to be the later. "My names Himawari. What's yours?" He continued to ignore me, and I continued to stare at him, waiting for an answer.

"Sasuke Uchiha." He finally replied, not even glancing in my direction and continuing to stare out the window. I took a peak to see what he could possibly be staring at but there was nothing. Just grass, and some trees. Oh, and a bird! Where was the bird going? Oh. It's gone now. Look! Another bird! The boy turned and glared at me. I guess he didn't like to share so I got the message and sat and faced the teacher who was continuing to write attentively.

A bell rang, telling students they had three minutes to get to class. Kankuro had explained all of this to me before school started. How I loved that boy. Not in the same way I love Sasori, but love none the less. Thinking about Kankuro, I think today was the day he needed his laundry washed. Oh, and his Dad had that business trip so Temari would probably cooking. I could feel myself wince. Temari, the oldest of the sand siblings (that's what everyone called them), wasn't a good cook at all. Considering how nice Kankuro had been, I guess it wouldn't be too big of a deal to cook him dinner. I wonder what'd he want.

The attention of someone sitting down next to me drew my attention and I smiled at familiar red hair. Sure Gaara was kind of scary and stuff, but that was only when his temper got in the way. Usually he was just quiet and moody. I think deep down he was just really shy.

"Hey Gaara." I smiled, and he nodded at me. Sasuke glanced up, made eye contact with Gaara, the two nodded, and then went back to ignoring everyone else. I wonder if this was some sort of guy code thing? Aside from the sand siblings, and Sasori, I didn't know anyone else at Konoha high. So, as students filed in I took little mental notes. There was a girl with purple hair, and a blond guy, and a guy with a dog stuffed into his sweater (what was up with that?) and a guy wearing round sunglasses (Kind of like that guy in the Beetles), and a girl with pink hair fighting with a girl with blond hair in the doorway. Then fighting with a girl with brown hair, and another purple haired girl, and another blond haired girl, and another girl with black hair, all fighting. All stopped fighting. All glancing at the boy next to me. Then at me. All glaring at me, and than heading towards me. Why did I feel like I did something wrong?

I glanced at Gaara who had noticed the situation and made eye contact with me. He motioned towards the girls coming and I shrugged my shoulders, not exactly sure just what was going on. The first one to reach me was the pink haired girl.

"Hi." She said, speaking politely. I gave a mental sigh and smiled back. I thought for sure she was going to yell at me.

"Umm... Hi." She smiled at me. I mean, she seemed nice enough. Could I be making a friend? I was definitely making a friend. I could not wait to tell my mom about this.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen you around before. What's your name?" This time it was the girl with long blond hair speaking to me. She seemed nice too. Could I be making two new friends? Oh this was exciting. I mean, I've never actually had a lot of girl friends before.

"I'm Himawari. I just came from Suna middle school, and your names?" They took a glance at each other, and laughed.

"Oh. You're from Suna. That explains it." Explains what?

"My names Ino," said the Blonde, " and this is Sakura." She said motioning to the girl with pink hair. " And that spot you're sitting in is mine." Ino said motioning to my seat. Oh. Crap. I'd gone and ruined my first day. Well, I mean, it wasn't too bad. I could get up and move and then everything would be fine. I was going to say this, but then the girls started arguing again.

"No Ino. That's my seat." Said Sakura, and then somebody else claimed the seat for themselves. I wasn't sure what was going on, I glanced around. I mean, was there something special about the seat? You'd think they'd be fighting for the window seat or something, but this spot was at the very back of the room, and it didn't have any special features to it. I glanced at Gaara sitting next to me and I could feel him getting angry. Oh crap, he was going to go into one of those moods.

"Hey." Just one word, and all of the girls turned to face him. I guess Gaara did have a sort of scary voice. Even Sasuke finally looked up. "She's not moving. Shut up and go away." Gaara said. Ino made as if she was going to comment, but Gaara shot her a glare and she huffed and took the seat in front of me, Sakura thinking fast and stealing the seat in front of Sasuke.

"Hi Sasuke."

"Hn."

"How was your summer?"

"Shut up forehead." Ino said, glaring at Sakura. "Sasuke doesn't want to talk to you."

"You shut up Ino-pig. He obviously would rather talk to me than to you." I glanced at Sasuke who continued to ignore them both, and I came to the conclusion this was a normal routine. To be honest, he seemed kind of like a jerk. He could learn a few things from Sasori. Sasori was always polite, but if the girls here preferred Sasuke's type, then maybe that meant I wouldn't have any competition for Sasori's affections?

Thinking about the incident that just happened, I glanced at Gaara to thank him, but I could tell he was still in one of those moods. The blond boy I noticed earlier came racing forward though.

"Wow. That was pretty awesome. I mean, you sure got them to-" The boy started, but Gaara cut him off.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." Gaara replied nonchalantly, pulling out a book. The boy cringed and backed off.

"Oh. Sakura! How was your summer?" The boy exclaimed, and I glanced to see the pink haired girl wince.

"Leave me alone Naruto." Naruto then nodded at Sasuke.

"Teme."

"Dobe."

"Have a good summer?"

"Hn. You?"

"Mine was fine. I had ramen almost everyday!" Sasuke nodded and Naruto eventually strayed back to his seat. I glanced between the two of them. obviously Sasuke didn't ignore everyone, I guess just the girls. Maybe he was secretly afraid of them or something?

To be honest I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. I mean, this could not be happening. There were so many people I didn't know, and I already seemed to be getting on the wrong side of people. The bell rang.

First period had just begun.

* * *

I know, I know, it's sort of dragging, but it's my first attempt at a high school fic and I need to introduce the teachers and whose in what class.

:) So review if you want the next one. Sasori AND Kakashi are in it. The more reviews, the faster I update!


	4. Chapter 4: kakashi?

:) So, here's the next chapter where Sasori finally makes an appearance and Kakashi as well.. I have to say I'm excited about this story and the feedback its been getting. So, keep it up and I'll keep updating super fast!

* * *

I had taken math in summer school so that it could be one of the classes I had with Sasori. Oh Sasori.

However, without Kankuro to guide me I was completely lost. I glanced around, I mean, I'm sure I could ask someone for directions. But who to ask? There was a guy with silver hair who looked older, and seemed nice enough. I decided maybe I could ask him.

"She was such a fucking bitch. I swear, I could've ripped her fucking throat out. Or maybe gouge out those pansy blue eyes. Dumb whore. Jashin knows I should've done it. " Or, maybe not ask him. I glanced around I had to find someone to ask for directions before everyone went to class. Oh. There's that Sakura girl. I mean... maybe she wouldn't mind? Besides, she seemed mostly harmless.

"Naruto!" There was a loud cracking sound as her fist hit his nose, and I decided that maybe Sakura wasn't the best option. Oh, there was that guy with with those Beatles glasses. Oh my gosh! A bug just crawled into his hair! Ew. Ew. Ew. Definitely can't ask him. This was bad. The hallway was slowing emptying out. I had to find someone. But... who else could I ask?

"Hi!" I turned to come face to face with a boy wearing an orange mask. Seriously. An orange swirly mask, with one small circular hole he could see through. He probably has self-esteem issues. That'd make sense. I mean, some people talked using sock puppets, I guess the mask was the equivalent of a paper bag. But... he didn't seem shy at all.

"Hi." Thinking about my dilemma and the empty hallway I glanced at the boy. I mean, he was definitely taller than me, therefore likely older, maybe he would know? "Do you know how to get to English, with Hatake Kakashi?" The boy seemed to light up, I couldn't tell how I knew since I couldn't see his face, but he just seemed to radiate positive energy.

"Yes! Tobi can show you. Tobi is a good boy!" I smiled. Thank goodness. But, where was this Tobi guy? I glanced around, the hallways were empty.

"Where is Tobi?"

"Tobi is Tobi." He said pointing to himself.

"You're Tobi?"

"Tobi is Tobi."

"Oh. So... will you show me how to get there?"

"Of course. Deidara always goes this way to get to class!"

* * *

"Um... but these are the science rooms...? Are you sure the math rooms are around here? I mean that door says 302, but my classroom is 124."

"Tobi knows where he's going. Don't worry. Tobi will help! Tobi is a good boy!"

* * *

"That says 472. We're lost. Aren't we?"

"Um... Tobi was sure Deidara's class was this way." I sighed. It was my first day and I was already lost and late for school. I glanced at my watch. Class had started 10 minutes ago. This was awful! I paused in my thoughts though, when I heard quiet giggling. Was someone else in the hallway? I glanced in the direction of the stairwell. Maybe someone else could help me? This Tobi kid didn't have a clue. I headed in the direction of the stairwell, and opened the door. The person sitting on the stairs instantly straightened. He was wearing an odd mask that hid the bottom of his face, and had silver hair. Yes silver. Judging by the suit and tie he was wearing, he was most likely a teacher. Thank goodness. A teacher.

"Hello there. Is there something I can help you with?" He scratched the back of his head, and for some odd reason he seemed to look guilty. I glanced at the plain black book in his hand. It looked innocent enough. Why did he look so embarrassed? Then I remembered the severity of my situation.

"Hi. I'm looking for room 124 but I'm lost. It's my first day and I'm already 10 minutes late for class and-"

"Wait? 10 minutes late? Crap." I was surprised to hear a teacher swear, but he didn't look like a conventional teacher. He also didn't act like one. I mean, why was he in the stairwells anyway? And, I was sure I heard him giggling.

He took a glance in my direction, and there was a sudden evil gleam in his eye. "Don't worry about it. Come on, I'll show you the way." He seemed to be in a extremely good mood compared to how upset he was before. When we entered the hallway again, I went to thank Tobi but the orange masked boy was no where to be seen.

"So, room 124. Hm?"

"Um yes. English."

"With Hatake Kakashi."

"Oh Yeah. Do you know him?"

"Do I know him? Me and him are as close as two people get." I felt so relieved. I mean, sure I was late but being with a teacher would totally get me out of trouble, and considering that the two of them got along worked well in my favor.

* * *

"The teachers lounge?" The man with the odd book, whose name I should probably ask, seemed to remember that I was present.

"Oh yes. I was just going to grab some coffee. Most of the teachers class so it's empty. Usually there's a long line up, but not now."

"Oh, but aren't you late for class?"

"Late for class? I was taking the time to help show you around school."

"But you were late before that."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were." I felt nearly ridiculous arguing with a teacher. Was he using me as an excuse to get out of trouble for being late? I mean, I guess I can relate, but even still, shouldn't we be heading for class? I decided to voice that thought. "Shouldn't we be heading for class?"

"Are you saying you don't want any coffee? It's actually pretty good." We shouldn't be doing this. We should be heading to class right now, so that I could introduce myself to my new teacher and try and make a decent first impression. But... the coffee did look good.

"Pour me a cup."

* * *

"And here we are, room 124. Hatake Kakashi." I glanced at my watch, and felt kind of nervous. I'm hoping this guy was really nice. I mean, I was half an hour late for class. I'd practically missed my entire lesson, and on the first day of school no less. However, when we entered the classroom it was oddly void of any teacher. "Yo. I'm Hatake Kakashi, and I will be your math teacher." I stared at the man next to me. He was my teacher? This guy?

"You're late." I glanced at the person who said it. A pretty blonde girl with the majority of the left side of her face covered with bangs.

"Well, you see, the reason I'm late was because I was showing this student to her class. She got lost." I think the blonde made some snide comment about the time but I tuned him out, I tuned everyone out. Why? Because sitting right next to the blonde, looking as perfect and as gorgeous as ever was the man that I was in love with. Sitting there was Akasuna Sasori.

* * *

:) So, please review and let me know what you think! Include some ideas if you have any. My idea of this story is still pretty rough.


	5. Chapter 5:Skank

:) I am immensely proud of this chapter, and I hope you find it as amusing as I did. SO, enjoy

* * *

For those of you that aren't aware, Danna is a very endearing suffix people place at the end of a persons name. I mean very, very endearing. The type of thing a wife would say to her husband, or something as intimate as that kind of thing. After me and Sasori get married, or engaged or start dating, whichever comes first, it's what I'll be referring to him as. Everyday I see him I'll say "I love you Sasori-danna!" or maybe just "I love you danna!" Something cute like that. Of course, I'd be the only one to say such a thing to him, obviously because me and him are soul-mates. So, with that being said, who does this blond tramp think she is?

So, I entered class late, and I ended up getting the seat right behind Sasori. Which was fine. I mean, I couldn't sit next to him and converse with him, but I could admire the back of his lovely, adorable head without seeming like a creep, and when I'm feeling brazen enough I could even tap those yummy shoulders of his. Oh. Crap. I meant broad. Those broad shoulders of him.

Note to self: Stop referring to Sasori as a piece of meat. He is a human being with feelings and emotions. Do not objective him.

Note taken.

Anyways, so after I get to class, Kakashi writes a short note on the board, and assigns us some homework that we can start doing in class. So, of course, me being the hard working student that I am, I open my book and begin doing the question. Since I am brilliant, not that I'm bragging or anything, I manage to grasp the gist most of it. Well, the fact that I'm brilliant is part of it. The other is that it's most review, but still. I understood it.

However. That dumb blond bimbo sitting diagonally from me, and thereby next to Sasori isn't blessed with my intelligence. So, when she fails to grasp the concept, she bats those long eyelashes, and says in this gross manly voice, "Sasori-danna?" Sasori looks up. As though he's used to the nickname. As if that cheap tramp has referred to him with it before. I cringe. She probably has. So, Sasori looks up and bats his even longer, more scrumptious eyelashes and- oh. Oops. Sorry. I did it again. Sasori is a person with emotions. Not meat. So, Sasori looks up and then she's all "Can you explain to me, un?" Now, where do I even begin?

First of all, how pathetic is it to dumb yourself down to get a boys attention? Sasori won't fall for those cheap tricks. He needs a women with brains. A women like me!

Second, she's got a man voice! That is not my jealousy speaking. She definitely had a raspy man voice. Maybe she was going through puberty and was at an odd stage, or maybe she was sick. Whatever the deal, she sounded like a man. Me on the other hand? I had a lovely voice. My voice was loads better than hers.

Third. Un? Who the heck says that? I mean, seriously. What the heck is up with that? I hate her. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her. Gosh, I hope someone makes fun of her for being such a moron.

"Man, you're a fucking moron." Wow. Wish granted. Oh crap. I recognized that tone. I glanced at the man sitting next to me, and behind Deidara. It was the white haired guy that was swearing earlier in the hallway. The really scary one. I mean, seriously scary. That ought to make her feel bad and maybe think twice before talking to my Sasori.

"Fuck you Hidan. You don't get it either, do you,un?" There she goes in her man voice with her dumb 'un' accent. I mean, what kind of lady would swear in front of a man she calls danna? What is wrong with her?

"Pft. If I had known you were going to be a PMS-ing bitch I would've kept my mouth shut, and yeah dip-shit. I do get it." I mean, sure I didn't like her but that doesn't mean this Hidan guy should treat her that way. I mean, that was too mean, but maybe he always swore like that?

"That's wrong. Moron."

"Fuck you. Ape-shit. How would you know?" Oh. Yeah. He probably did swear like that a lot.

"This is too troublesome." I glanced to the boy on the other side of me. He had his head down on the desk and seemed to be trying to sleep. Obviously the arguing was keeping him awake. I guess he was some sort of slacker, but glancing at his notebook, I realized that he'd somehow already finished! But still, sleeping and swearing in class? I glanced up at the teacher, who was sitting behind his desk reading the same black book he had earlier. He was stifling his laughter, and so captivated by the book he was ignoring the rest of the class.

A teacher that spent all class writing, and a teacher who spent all class reading? What was with this school.

"You're being too loud." I glanced up at the speaker. He bared an uncanny resemblance to Sasuke, except he had bags under his eyes and longer hair. They were definitely related some how. They even had that cold air around them.

"Oh shut up pansy." Hidan said, glaring at the boy with the ponytail.

"Yeah Uchiha. It's none of your business." The blond seemed to have an odd resentment for the guy with black hair, but if Uchiha was his name then he was definitely related to Sasuke.

"It is my business if your voice is giving me a headache." The Uchiha's tone was so monotone that it didn't even seem like he was saying an insult, but this only seemed to get the blond fired up. Anger issues? Definitely not charming in a women. Who does she think she is?

"Hm. You're both wrong." I glanced up Sasori. Gorgeous, brilliant Sasori, who was comparing the answers in both books. "You didn't add these properly, and you didn't subtract." He said to both the blond and Hidan. Instantly, their moods dropped and they glanced at their books shrugging.

"Thanks danna," the dumb, skanky blond replied.

"Fucking subtraction." The white haired guy said. I guess that was how he showed his gratitude. What was wrong with these people? They were so odd and abnormal. There's no way these people could actually be friends, could they? Then I noticed it. On their ties they all had the same red, cloud shaped pin.

What was going on at this school?

* * *

:) So, I hope you enjoyed it and please review!  
Seriously, the make me update loads faster


	6. Chapter 6: This is War

SO here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"How troublesome. Fine. I'll show you the way." You know the super lazy smart kid in my class? His names Shikamaru. He was the only one I actually had the confidence to approach, and the only one who didn't seem completely insane. I was going to ask the Sasuke look-alike, but he was unusually quiet, and I had this odd saying in my mind. You know the one that goes something like 'It's always the quiet ones." Yeah. That saying. So, Shikamaru it was. What was my next class you ask? Why it was Philosophy. Philosophy happened to be another of the classes I had with Sasori. I would've asked him to show me where it was, but that blond skank whose name I have yet to figure out had her filthy claws dug into him.

No matter though. I would get Sasori in the end. Me and him belonged together.

So, as we headed towards Philosophy, Shikamaru complained about how 'troublesome' it was to walk me there. In fact, he used that word 'troublesome' six times in the two minutes it took to walk there. While he was complaining about how 'troublesome' it was, he also failed to mention the fact that he had the class! It wasn't troublesome at all. He was heading this way anyways. That boy was seriously going to get on my nerves.

When I entered the classroom, the teacher instantly locked eyes with me. Then he proceeded to completely ignore my entire existence.

"Hey there Shikamaru!"

"Hey Asuma." Well, at least this teacher seemed fairly normal. I mean, he had this sort of rugged appearance, but that made sense. I mean, he was teaching philosophy. At least he seemed to be paying att- Did he just start smoking in class?

Something was wrong with this school. But that didn't matter now. There was Sasori. With an empty seat right next to him. Hurriedly, but not too fast I made my way to his seat.

"Hi there. Can I sit next to you?" He looked up his notebook, which he was currently doodling in, strands of his brightly colored hair falling into his eyes.

"Sure." And with that I sat down. Sat down. Right next to him. I was sitting on one side, and next to me was Sasori. All I had to do was turn my head and talk to him, and then me and him could talk. What should I say? I mean, what could I say?

"Then he told me eleven dollars, and I laughed. I got it for five." I glanced up at the loud voices from the door, instantly seeing the cloud pins on the two guys standing in the doorway. One of them had a couple of scars on his face, which were stitched up pretty intensely. I wonder what could've happened? The other one was huge, and I mean huge. He had to be at least six feet, and he had these odd gill tattoos on his face, and really sharp teeth. He was like a shark. Seriously.

Shark face took the seat right next to Sasori, the one talking about money took the one right in front of him. As I glanced around I realized that the seat on my right was empty, and behind me was empty too. Behind Sasori was this guy dressed in just black and white, with green hair. Upon further inspection I noticed the same cloud pin. I mean, was this some type of club they had going on? What was the deal with these cloud pins?

"Hey there. Hows your day been going so far?" I glanced up and couldn't help but smile. I'd forgotten that me and Kankuro had this class together.

"Hey. It's been eventful so far. I have yet to meet a sane teacher. I mean, all of them seem a little nuts in the head. Do you know what I mean?" Kankuro rolled his eyes before taking the seat next to me.

"Trust me. You haven't seen anything yet." With that the bell rang, and the teacher stood up.

"Hello students, and welcome to Philosophy. I shall be your philosophy teach-" Suddenly, the door was flung open, and in walked the blond girl from earlier. Don't tell me she had this class too? Why was she so late anyway? Upon further inspection I recognized an orange mask from earlier.

"Sorry we're late, I would've been here earlier but...Tobi! Let go of my arm!" With this the class broke out into laughter. Obviously this kind of stuff happened often.

"Detention." Asuma said, glaring at the blond.

"What? But it wasn't even my fault. It was all Tobi!"

"Tobi didn't do anything. Tobi is a good boy."

"Detention. Both of you. Now sit down before I make it an entire week." The two huffed before entering the class. I couldn't help but feel a little smug. I mean, not only was I sitting next to Sasori, but skank face got detention. This day was getting better and better. Then, me and the blond made eye contact. She quickly approached me, and then stood in front of the desk.

"Move." Just like that. Like I was suppose to be scared of her or something ridiculous like that. Who did she think she was. There was no way I was moving at all. I mean, I'd already unpacked my stuff, and I was sitting next to Kankuro, and my main reason really, I was sitting next to Sasori! There was no way I was giving this seat up. Especially not to some skanky-ho who kept calling my Sasori 'Danna.' But I mean, I couldn't just so No. What would Sasori think? What if he thought I was an evil monster or something? But then again, I mean if she could tell me to move, and talk to Sasori, maybe he liked mean girls. Maybe I was too nice for him. Maybe I needed to toughen up. This was war, and I couldn't afford to show weakness. Not now anyways.

"No." This seemed to earn a gasp from the entire room. Apparently this girl had a lot more control than I gave her credit for. She must've been Queen-bee or something like that, the way people seemed to actually be scared of her. But I wouldn't stand for it. Sasori was mine and I needed to stake my claim.

"Excuse me?" Was her response, and me being mean was worth it. She looked completely shocked. I glanced at Sasori who gave a slight amused chuckle. I was definitely going about this the right way.

"I said no. I've already unpacked all my stuff, and I happen to like this seat. Go find somewhere else to sit." Preferably away from me and my Sasori. She looked ready to make a retort, but thankfully Asuma, who might be becoming my new favorite teacher called her out on it.

"Deidara. Just sit down already!" Deidara huh? That was my rivals name? Well, I would show her. Then the most awful thing happened. The angry blond chick, in need of a seat, took the one spot I wish she hadn't.

The one right behind me.

* * *

:) So, thoughts? Let me know!  
The faster you review, the faster I update!


	7. Chapter 7: Shirt Off

:) I am incredibly proud of this chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

She didn't do anything. At all. I was so sure that she would throw something at me, or she would try and punch me in the neck. Just something mean and cruel. But nothing. That didn't seem to calm Kankuro down.

The moment the bell rang for lunch, I went to say something cute to Sasori. You know something like 'I'll talk to you later,' or maybe even 'Want to eat lunch together?' But Kankuro wouldn't have it. He instantly grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of class.

"Are you out of your mind?" He whispered harshly, dragging me towards my locker. Thankfully he remembered where it was because I didn't.

"What're you talking about?" But I had a clear idea.

"What was up with the Deidara thing? Was the seat that big of a deal?" Then I started my venting.

"You know what Kankuro. Someone had to put her in her place. I mean, who does she think she is? Every time I see her she's all over Sasori, and you know what she calls him? Danna. So, obviously this is a competition and I won't let her win." I turned to face Kankuro who had an awe-struck look on his face. Obviously my declaration of love left him speechless. He stopped walking and just stared. I was amused at first but then it was starting to worry me. "Kankuro? Say something."

"You're absolutely right Himawari."

"I am?"

"Yep. She's all over him, and she does call him Danna so something must be going on." I knew I wasn't the only one. But why did Kankuro seem like he was holding back laughter? I guess the entire situation was a bit funny.

* * *

"So, she's going to stop **her** from stealing Sasori." Kankuro said, repeating the story to Temari. He used an odd bunch of facial expressions and hand motions, but whatever it was, Temari was obviously amused by something. She too agreed with my theory though. Which left one member of our group missing.

"Where is Gaara?" It was his first day too, and I was hoping that he wasn't getting into too much trouble. Lunch was almost over. Was he alright?

"I think I'm going to go and look for Gaara." I said before standing up. I grabbed my bag, and took a quick glance around the cafeteria. It was fairly big with lots of unfamiliar faces. I saw Sakura and Ino sitting at the same table together with Sasuke. There were other girls sitting there too, but Sasuke didn't seem to notice. He made it a point to ignore the existence of all of them.

I couldn't help but glare when I saw Sasori sitting with Deidara. I really hated her. He was sitting with all of the other people wearing those cloud pins. I made a mental note to ask Kankuro about that later. As I got up, I could feel Deidara's eyes on me. I decided to ignore her. She was probably envious with just how much better looking I was than her. So, with that I left the cafeteria in search of my second favorite red head. Now where could Gaara be?

* * *

It'd only been five minutes of looking and I was already lost. Seriously lost. The entire hallway seemed to be completely void of people and I couldn't help but get upset. I heard footsteps behind me, and saw a familiar blond head of hair. Deidara? Had she been following me? The two of us made eye contact, and she grabbed my wrist and pulled me into an empty art classroom.

"Hey! What the hell! Let go of me!" I said glaring at her. Who the hell did she think she was? I mean, you couldn't go around doing this. Somebody needed to teach her a lesson.

"Listen you." Oh. Well. Okay. I had to admit, she was kind of scary. But a lot of it had to do with her man voice. I guess if you sounded like that you had to grow up tough. "It's Himawari right?" She had me grasped by my shoulders and we were face to face. I just nodded. She was really, really scary. "Look. I don't like you. You got that?" I nodded. "So. Here's the deal. Since you're new, I'm going to let it slide. Next time though, if I tell you to move. Then you move. Understand?" I nodded. Really, really scary. "Good." I thought she was going to leave, but she seemed to look around the room for a second. She spotted a canister of paint and grabbed a paintbrush. Wait a second...she wasn't going to... Then, she flicked black paint onto my white shirt. Ruining it. "Just take that as a warning." She voiced. Suddenly, my courage seemed to come back. I really liked this shirt! And I really liked Sasori! I wasn't going to let her win.

"Listen you. Just because you're a bitch and it seems to work doesn't mean it always will." I wasn't going to let her win that easily. Sure, she ruined my favorite shirt, but this was war and there were bound to be causalities. "I got that seat first, and I plan on sitting there. For the record, I don't like you much either." I said. I turned my back to her and opened up my bag. Thankfully I'd packed a sweatshirt. I glanced at the windows and the door, all of which were covered. Then, I grasped the hem of my shirt and lifted it over my head. I was careful not to get the paint on me. There was no way I was going to spend the rest of the day wearing a shirt covered in paint.

"What... what're you doing?" After I had my shirt off, I was just in a simple black bra. I mean, sure it had a bit of lace but I don't get why Deidara was looking at me as if I was crazy.

"What? Have you never seen boobs before or something?" I took a glance at her chest. Actually, maybe that was kind of harsh. She was really flat. Almost boy flat, and then with a man voice. No wonder she turned out so odd. I grabbed my sweatshirt and went to put it over my head, but not before seeing Deidara continue to stare at me. "Take a picture, it'll last longer." I mean, what was she gawking at? She was a girl too.

"Wait a second! I know what's going on now." I rolled my eyes. I can't believe I was scared of her a second ago. "Is this you trying to seduce me or something?" Did she actually just say that?

"What no. You're not my type." Obviously, female is not the way I swing. Besides, even if she was a guy, which she obviously isn't, she wouldn't be Sasori and therefore wouldn't be worth my time. For some odd reason though, this seemed to cause her eyes to widen. Once I had my sweatshirt on, she continued to stare at me. "What?" I said, before tossing my shirt into an empty pocket of my bag, but not before trying to get the paint off.

"I'm not your type? You know... no one's ever... ever said that... to me before." She kept giving me this odd look, it was actually starting to make me a bit uncomfortable.

"Um... I'm gonna go now. Bye." And then I sort of ran.

* * *

For those of you wondering, she'll figure out Deidara's gender soon enough.


	8. Chapter 8: The truth hurts

:) Enjoy!

* * *

I never found Gaara that lunch period, and to be honest, it was fine. Why, you may ask? Well, because the world was a great and wondrous place. Why, you ask again? Well, because I get to see Sasori next period. I'll make sure I get there right after him, so that maybe the two of us can sit together or something like that.

I have a really big flaw. The type of flaw that could be a potential deal breaker. Like, lets say you go the store, and you see a pretty flower, and you decide to buy it, and so you take it home, and admire it, and then you go and shower, and you come back, and you realize that the flower ate your cat because it's not a flower it's a venus fly trap, and thus you go to the store to return it. Now obviously, this is a really obscure example. Because, first of all, you can't buy venus fly traps at the store, or at least not any of the stores I know, and chances are if you saw a venus fly trap, you'd realize what it was. Furthermore, I doubt it would wait until you got home to eat your cat, it would most likely try and eat you. Further more, this really has nothing to do with anything, because I'm not a plant, and my big flaw has nothing to do with eating people. In fact, this little tangent was kind of pointless. I'm sorry. I ramble when I get nervous.

Why would I be nervous? Well, because I have art next period, with Sasori. Which is great, and which is amazing. But, this brings us back to my big flaw. Before we discuss that though, there's some other things you should know.

You know, I'm a very talented person. I don't want to brag, but it's true. I mean, I'm really smart. My grades are exceptional, my words witty, in fact, I'm even relatively athletic. On top of my list of talents, I'm also very pretty. I have lovely, soft hair. My lashes are brilliantly long, and my legs, as well. On top of all this, I'm an amazing kisser. Not that I've ever kissed a boy before, waiting for Sasori of course, but I imagine I'll be a good one. What with all the practicing me and him will do. So, to sum it all up, I'd be a great catch for any guy. So, if I'm so great and amazing, why hasn't Sasori fallen for me yet? Now, this returns us to my flaw.

I'm not artistic. At all. I'm creative. Sort of. But my ideas never translate onto paper, or wood, or metal, or any other type of artistic median. I can't draw. My doodles are all noodles, and my stick men just wish you'd stick a stick in them. Not only can I not draw, I can also not paint, not sculpt, not even carve. However, not to brag or anything, but I can take fantastic pictures. Well, at least of Sasori. Not that I'm a stalker or anything.

I'm just an unartistic girl in love with a work of art.

So, it is with a heavy heart (full of love of course), that I make my way towards art.

* * *

Deidara's in my art class. Art, which is suppose to be my happy Sasori time is interrupted because Deidara is in my class. And I can't even sit beside Sasori, because Deidara's already sitting there. I seriously hate her. However, for some odd reason, which I cannot fathom, she is avoiding eye contact with me. Her cheeks are pretty red too. I wonder if she's got a fever? She seemed fine before. All I know is that she better not spread her disease to Sasori. Unless of course, I get to nurse him back to health, while she dies a slow death or something like that. Then it would be perfectly acceptable.

Anyways, since I couldn't sit beside Sasori, I settled for sitting behind him.

I sat between this really quiet girl with freaky lilac eyes, and this chubby kid eating chips. Normally, I would've introduced myself or said something witty, but I kind of wanted to sulk.

How was I suppose to capture Sasori's attention when Deidara seemed to be getting in my way, all the time?

"Hello class. My name is Kurenai, and I will be your art teacher for the year." Well, at least this teacher seemed normal enough. Maybe a little too normal.

* * *

Art was mostly talk, a bit of discussion, a short debate, wallowing in self pity of my slowly shriveling love life, and then heading off to Media, my next class.

Now, Media is something to talk about. Not the class, or the people who're in it, but the teacher. Who, in my personal opinion, is the craziest person I've ever met. Ever. I mean, I thought Kakashi and Jiraiya were strange, Asuma had odd habits, and Kurenai was freakishly normal, but I don't even know where to begin with this one.

I mean, I entered media class thinking we'd make some videos, take some pictures, photo shop this, snap a picture of that, but no! I entered class, took my seat. Pulled out some paper, and some pens, prepared to take notes. Then in storms this purple haired psycho in a trench coat. She STANDS UP ON HER DESK, looks at all of us, does this evil cackle laugh thing, then goes silent while she stares at us for two minutes, laughs again, is quiet again, this sits on her desk, folds her hands in her lap, smiles this polite smile and says in this perfectly calm voice.

"Hello class. My name is Anko Mitarashi, and I will be your media teacher." I don't even know how to respond to this at all. "Now, the lessons I'm going to teach to you today, are lessons that will help you through life. Anyone can take a couple pretty pictures, or a cute little video, but I'm going to teach you beyond that. It takes a real crafty person to capture blackmail worthy material on film. A skillful artist to photo shop incriminating photos. A brilliant coercer to only film useful parts of a conversation. I will teach you all this, and so much more. Any questions?"

Oddly enough though, I think I'm going to enjoy media.

* * *

"So... how was your first day of school?" Kankuro asked as we made our way home. Temari had to stay after school for something, and Gaara had a tendency to stuff on his own, so it was just the two of us.

"Um... it was interesting." That seemed like the right word.

"Hey, Himawari?"

"Yeah?"

"You're... you're not on your period are you?" I stopped walking and stared at Kankuro.

"What? Kankuro, you can't ask a girl that! I mean, what kind of question is that!"

"Sorry. Sorry. I know. It's just Temari said to make sure you weren't before I told you. She said that girls get very emotional and stuff during that time of month and can act violently and irrationally."

"Next time Temari tells you something, just ignore it. So... what is it you wanted to tell me?"

"Promise not get mad, or upset?" I raised a brow at that but shrugged. It couldn't be that bad.

"Yeah, sure."

"Promise."

"I promise."

"Okay."

"So... spill."

"Umm... well, I don't know how to say this exactly."

"Just spill it out."

"Deidara's a boy."

* * *

So, for those of your wondering when she would find out his true gender, well she's figure it out.

:) Now, this one was a little longer than usual so lots of reviews please!


	9. Chapter 9: Gai?

:) Ta-da. Enjoy!

* * *

"Look, I'm sorry okay! I didn't think it'd be such a big deal. Now, will you open the door?" Kankuro had been sitting outside my bedroom door for the past 20 minutes.

"No. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay in here until I die." I mean, how could I ever leave this room?

"Look, I didn't think it was such a big deal. I mean, he kind of looks like a girl. Himawari! Open up!" His commanding tone had simmered down to a begging voice.

"Well, it is a big deal! It's a huge deal! I hate you, and you've ruined my life!" Stupid, stupid, stupid Kankuro. He just had to go and play his little prank on me. Oh! And Temari. She too betrayed me. Now I know why they were laughing earlier. No wonder Gaara keeps to himself. His siblings are monsters. He probably has severe trust issues because them.

"Look, I'm sorry. But it's not like you changed in front of him or anything!"

"No. Of course I didn't do that. Why... did you hear anything that suggests I did?"

"Well... no. Why would I hear something like that?"

"LIES! It's all lies."

"Himawari."

"Yes Kankuro?"

"We're going to be late for school."

"I already told you I wasn't going." After this there was an odd silence. Had he left?

"Himawari." I was ready to tell Kankuro to go away again when I realized it wasn't Kankuro's voice saying my name.

"...Gaara?" Was he standing outside the whole time?

"Get out. We're going to be late for school." Wait... did I hear that right?

"You... you want to go to school?"

"Yes. I do, and I don't want to be late." At this, I had to open the door and stare at Gaara. He had the same straight face as usual, but something didn't make sense. Gaara hated school. He hated just about everything.

"Why do you want to go to school?"

"I need to meet someone." I glanced at Kankuro who seemed just as shocked as me. Gaara? Having friends? I couldn't help but smile at this.

"Gaara! I'm so glad you're making friends!" At this Gaara glared at me.

"I'm not making friends. I just have someone to meet." At this, I saw the glint in Kankuro's eye.

"Are... are you meeting a girl?" I asked.

"No. I'm meeting a boy." Kankuro snickered, and I shot a glare at him. "I'm going to kill him." Oh. I guess I got all excited for nothing.

"Well, that makes sense."

"Now come on. I don't want to let him get away."

I thought about closing the door for a second, and I almost did. Until I realized what I was doing. I was letting Deidara get in the way of true love. Was I so afraid to see HIM (because he's a he and not a she) that I would risk not seeing Sasori? No. I couldn't let him do this. Male or female, Deidara was the enemy.

* * *

This morning I had health instead of Philosophy. So, like yesterday, I had no idea where the classroom was. Now, since it was first period, usually Kankuro would have shown me the way, but since I had a bit of a tantrum (though it was well deserved), Kankuro was late to class so he had to hurry and head to his. Of course, since Kankuro was late to class, this also meant that I was late to class, and considering the fact I didn't know where class was, this meant I was double late for class. Then, I saw a familiar face.

"I remember you!"

"Tobi." I stared at him. Why did he always pop up everywhere?

"Are you lost again?" I stared at the odd orange mask, and shook my head no. The last time I'd let him lead the way I ended up on the opposite side of the school where I came across my math teacher giggling in the stairwell. So, I had better luck finding the classroom on my own, then following him.

"No. I'm fine. Just taking a little detour." I slowly inched my way around the corner, hoping to get away from him, when I bumped into someone else. "Oh. Sorry about that." I turned around to see who I backed into when I realized it was that Sasuke look-alike from my math class.

"Don't worry about it." He said it, but he sort of made it seem like he was talking to the air, or something. Not that he said it like a crazy person, he just said it like I wasn't the one he was saying it to. Which, I was. He was saying it to me, it just didn't seem that way. Sorry. I'm rambling again. "Tobi. There you are."

"Itachi! I was just going to show this nice girl to her next class. She's lost."

"I'm not lost!" I said, hoping he would just leave me alone.

"You're definitely lost. Tobi can tell."

"Oh really? And how can Tobi tell?"

"Because Tobi is a good boy." What did that even have anything to do with anything? I mean, wasn't there a single normal person in this entire place?

"You realize you're late for class?" This time it was Itachi to ask, and there was a bit of a condescending tone to his voice.

"Yes. I know." I replied dutifully. For some reason, I almost felt like I was being scolded.

"What class do you have?"

"Health with Gai."

"In room 302?"

"Um... yeah. How'd you know?"

"It's right there." I thought he was joking around or lying or something of the sort, but it really was right there. I'd been wandering around, and the door was right there. But something didn't make any sense. I stared at the doors besides Gai's. The numbers didn't work. It went 198, 302, 200.

"What's the deal with the doors?"

"Gai thinks that 302 sounds more youthful than 199." Tobi dutifully gave the response, and then Itachi sort of dragged him off somewhere, while I was left thinking about what I was told. How could numbers be youthful? It just didn't make any sense to me.

I guess I would find out.

* * *

So, this one is a bit short, but the next chapter has the Deidara confrontation, which I am very excited about.

:)


	10. Chapter 10: True Love

Now this ones short, and there's a small little bit of fluff at the end, but I don't think its as humorous as it's going to be. However, fret not because I am off to work on the next chapter which has the Deidara confrontation scene I'm sure many of you are looking forward to.  
:) Enjoy!

* * *

I'd entered the classroom, expecting to be yelled at for being late, maybe given a detention, and assignment, but instead I got a compliment.

"Oh, how wonderful it is to be young! Your display of youth has warmed my soul." I kid you not. Seriously. That was exactly what he said. Now, if you think this is odd, wait until I tell you what this guy was wearing, He had on a green suit, an orange tie, and then, orange shoes! And don't even get me started on his bowl cut. Well, too late. You got me started. His hair! You know Spock from Star Trek? He had Spock hair! And, on top of that, there was a kid with the same hair cut in the front row. Actually... there outfits seemed to match. It was a bit creepy actually.

I ended up sitting between Naruto and Sakura, which for some reason was the only empty seat. I couldn't understand why no one chose to sit there. It was nicely placed in the middle of the room, had a pleasant view of the board, and was even near to that Sasuke guy that everyone seemed to be obsessed with. There were a few empty seats at the very front of the class and judging by how eccentric the teacher was I could understand why. However, I still had no idea why there was this nice empty seat just pleasantly placed for me. So, thinking I was just surprisingly lucky, I took it.

It was empty for a reason.

You see, Naruto had learned that when he sat next to Sakura and made stupid remarks he was an easy target, so he chose to sit as close to her as possible without putting himself in harms way. Other people became aware of Sakura's temper and decided it was best to stay away, and that was why that seat was empty. How I wish I'd sat at the front. You see, Naruto kept tossing notes at Sakura, who kept glaring, and being unable to hit him, kept tossing them back at Naruto, and neither of them had very good aim, and so a lot of those notes hit me. And to add to this, they weren't exactly discreet about there actions. So, I turned to Gai, hoping he'd tell them to stop it or something, but he just gave Naruto a thumbs up and told him something about 'fighting the good fight,' and that was my health class. Seriously, teachers just keep getting weirder and weirder. If anymore of this goes on, I think my sanity might be on the line.

* * *

English class with Jiraiya was cancelled because he'd called in sick that morning. Math class with Kakashi was cancelled because he also called in sick. I thought for a second that maybe they'd caught a cold or something, but I kept hearing stuff about a new book release and that being the reason they were missing. Either way, it was too short notice to find a supply teacher, so we were just sort of locked up in the classroom not doing anything.

So, In english I had a talk with Gaara about how horrible his siblings are. It went something along the lines of...

"And Kankuro just lets you make mistakes, when he can stop them."

Gaara nodded.

"And then Temari, just has to agree. When she's older, and should be more responsible, or the wiser of the two. Or something like that. You know?"

Gaara nodded again.

"I mean, no wonder you're so quiet. When it's like everything you say is just twisted-"

"We should kill them."

"Oh no. Nothing that serious. I mean even though they are two-faced monsters that would let you burn in a volcano when they have a lava scuba suit they could just give to you, but instead they pretend like there's no such thing, when there obviously is, and then-"

"I want lasagna tonight."

This time it was my turn to nod.

* * *

In Math... I um... I talked to Sasori. Now, I'm serious. Deidara, who sat behind me, had fallen asleep, or feigned sleep, or was generally doing everything to ignore everyone else, and so, there was Sasori just sitting at his desk, playing with this little wooden transformers like thing, when I asked, curiously,

"What's that?" He stared at me with those homey brown eyes, gave a shrug from those broad shoulders, and then stretched out his well toned arm, and placed the toy on my desk. Where, I slowly picked it up, and turned it around in my hands. This had touched Sasori.

"It's just a toy I made." He said. Continuing to stare at me, well more specifically the toy in my hands. He was probably waiting for me to give it back, but I couldn't do that, because if I did that, then what else would we talk about?

"Why'd you make it?" This was actually code for, 'what inspired you to make this wonderful masterpiece,' which was code for, 'Oh Sasori my love, please let me get a glimpse into your brilliant artistic mind.'

"I can't remember. I made it a while ago."

"How long is a while ago?"

"At least ten years ago."

"Wow, it's still in pretty good shape." And I could see by the look in his eyes, that I'd said the right thing.

"It is. Because it's art. And in order for it to be art, it has to be beautiful eternally." Then I handed him back the toy, but our conversation had begun. We went through what true art was, to who our favorite artists were, he told me about his preferences for working with wood, about how cedar was his favorite, and then we talked about trees, about forests, about global warming, air conditioning, iced coffees, and so on. We talked all period, and the conversation seemed to flow. Then the bell rang, and I had to get up and leave, but it was fine because today I'd talked to Sasori. He'd talked to me.

This, was the beginnings of true love.

* * *

So next chapter is the confrontation, which I am very excited about so be sure to review and give me your thoughts!


	11. Chapter 11: Slap

Philosophy with Asuma was also cancelled but somehow they'd found a supply to teach this class. It was the art teacher Kurenai, and to be honest she was completely furious. She went on this huge rant about literature that was clearly offensive to woman, and just all around perverted, and how any man that was going to waste his time reading it wasn't worthy of anyones time and then she talked about how men just sucked in general. Then there was this little rant about forgetting special dates, like anniversaries and birthdays, and how crimes like that should be punishable by death, and to be honest I had no idea what she was talking about or where she was going. So, I kind of just tuned her out.

I noticed this girl next to me, with two buns in her hair doodling on a sheet of paper. I glanced down at the paper wondering just what it was she was doing and saw sketches of fairly familiar looking people with abnormally hairy eyebrows. I think she might be in my health class.

"So um... what's the deal with her, huh?" I asked, motioning to the teacher. The girl with the buns looked up at me, noticing me for the first time.

"Kurenai's pissed because Asuma went to Blue's book store for the autographing signing of that new Icha Icha Paradise book or something like that."

"Oh. Icha Icha Paradise?" She shrugged.

"It's a pretty good novel, some people find it a little too adult, but I think it's a fairly solid read."

"Oh."

"I'm Tenten."

"Himawari."

"Yeah, I've seen you around before. You hang out with that red head with no eyebrows right?"

"Oh. Gaara. Yeah, I guess."

"Hm. You know... he has no eyebrows."

"Yeah, I've noticed." There was a slight buzzing sound and I glanced at her bag where she pulled out her cell phone. She opened it and stared at a text before rolling her eyes.

"What's wrong?" She banged her head on the desk, and then passed me the phone, with a text on it.

'Can't meet up. Hinata's not feeling well.'

"Oh." Tenten suddenly shot up, and then turned me, her eyes freakishly hard.

"Do you know what that means?" I shrugged my shoulders, I didn't have a clue. "It means that his cousin Hinata is sick, again, and I love the girl you know, she's very cute and sweet, and too shy for her own good. But he's my boyfriend. Mine, so you think I'd be able to spend some time with him but we don't have any classes together, the only time we can hang out is at lunch and after school. He tutors at lunch, and I have volleyball and soccer after school, so the only days our schedules work is Wednesday and Friday. The weekends we hang out too. But, this weekend he's going to some family gathering or something, so you think I'd be able to see him friday but swim team tryouts are then so I can't make it, and we can't do lunch because that moron Naruto got him a detention. I mean... what're we suppose to do?" This was definitely not what I was expecting. Not at all.

"Um... call him?" Her eyes suddenly seemed to sparkle.

"You're right. You're absolutely right." She got up from the desk and headed to the door.

"Tenten where are you going?" Kurenai-sensei asked.

"I have to pee." Was her elegant reply and then she exited the room. I looked at the empty seat next to me. Now what was I suppose to do?

"That was some pretty fucking solid advice." I glanced up at the guy sitting next to me. I recognized him as the guy in my math class who always swore.

"Oh umm... Thanks." I said. "I'm Himawari." He had white hair and pale skin. Yep. Definitely in my math class.

"Hidan. So this your first year going here?" I nodded. I noticed the cool necklace he had on his neck. It was an upside down triangle in a circle. It looked a little familiar.

"That's a cool necklace. Where's it from?" I said, and his eyes seemed to light up with this odd light.

"Man are you a dumb bitch." I think I should've been offended but it said it in the most blandest way as if it was some sort of compliment. He pushed his desk right next to mine and put the necklace in front of my face. "It's cool huh?"

"I um... yeah. It's cool." I went to reach it, but it slapped my hand.

"Don't touch it. You'll taint it." Taint it?

"What is it?" I said staring at it. Sure it was cool but what was the big deal about it?

"You really don't know?"

"No."

"It's the symbol of Jashin. This shows my faith and loyalty to him." Oh.

"So, it's a religious thing?"

"Pft. It's fucking more than that. It's a way of life." I'd never heard of a god named Jashin before.

"What's it involve?" He smiled at me, and then pulled out a book from his bag.

"Here." I took it from his hand and stared at it. It was a leather bound book that had Jashin written on the front. "Read it and it'll all make sense." I felt like I was being tricked somehow, but I had nothing better to do. I mean, I doubt it could be that bad. So, I started flipping through the pages.

skjbdfijsjjgks

Wow. Wow. Wow. I glanced at the book and back at Hidan who was playing with his necklace and staring at it very intensely. I thought it be some creepy book but it was actually... well... kind of amazing.

"The only way truly live is to give up temptation, to divulge yourself of all sins and then die, only to be reborn and given life by Lord Jashin himself. It is only through pain that we truly learn. Only through pain that we truly feel. If you feel an emptiness pervading through your bones, then let the pain of life replenish that and fill you with the spirit of Jashin himself." That was just a short little snippet from the book but it all sounded really nice and pleasant. There was a lot in there about pain and stuff but I figured it was more figurative then literal. I mean, it's not like anyone would actually stab themselves or make sacrifices in the name of some all powerful deity. At least, I hoped not.

"Here you go." I said, handing him the book back. I read enough to get the gist of it.

"So... what'd you think of it?" I shrugged but before I could answer the bell rang. Time to get to lunch.

xxxx

"Icha Icha Mayhem." Kankuro said to me as I sat down at the lunch table.

"What?"

"It's the reason why all the male teachers are missing today, except for the creepy ones of course." At this Temari scoffed.

"Oh, so the teachers who skipped worked to wait in line for a perverted novel aren't the creepy teachers?"

"Exactly." Kankuro confidently replied. "I mean, you don't see Orochimaru skipping work."

"Point taken." Temari replied, shivering slightly.

"Whose Orochimaru?" At this Kankuro started laughing.

"Check your schedule." I pulled out my schedule from my bag, and it said I had Orochimaru next period for science. The one course I had yet to have.

"So... he teaches science. Is there something wrong with him?" Kankuro laughed again, Temari shivered again, and we all noticed again that Gaara was missing.

"Where did that boy go?" Temari replied, looking around for her younger brother.

"I'll go look for him." I said. I was basically done eating, and I was still a little peeved at the two for not mentioning Deidara's gender earlier.

"Sure. Thanks Himawari, your the best. And, just a heads up." Kankuro said with a smug look on his face. "If Orochimaru ever asks you if you want to see his snake, just say no." I wasn't sure if Kankuro was being serious, or making a perverted joke, so I just decided to walk off.

I headed to the garbage can to empty my tray, when I noticed a familiar head of blond hair. A familiar head of male blond hair. I mean, now that I knew she was a he, I felt like an idiot. It should've been obvious. He was completely flat, he had a man voice, and he was just... gah. It was so obvious! How could I have been so dumb?

So, I headed to the garbage can, and threw my stuff out. I just figured Deidara would ignore me like he'd been doing the rest of the day. I was wrong.

"Hey. Himawari, can I can talk to you for a second?" I glanced at him and then nodded. I had no intention of leaving the lunch room. After the last private conversation we had before I decided that open spaces were better spaces. "About the other day..." To be honest I had no idea where he was going with this. However the route he took was not one I expected. "I'm pretty use to girls throwing themselves at me, what with my good looks, it's quite common. But you, man are you forward. And aggressive too. Its different but I kind of like it. So, do you wanna come over after school?" I kid you not. This was exactly what he said, and he wasn't embarrassed about it at all. And to be honest, I mean, I think given the situation I handled it fairly well. Sort of. No, not at all. I mean, I was upset, and he was just a smug jerk, and I kind of... well um...

"Pervert!" And then I smacked him. And incase you were wondering, everyone did see that.


	12. Chapter 12: Akatsuki?

The girls washroom. A nice comfy place where you can sit and contemplate your past actions in quiet privacy.

"She slapped him!" Or not. In fact, definitely not. The girls washroom is a place where all of the girls come to gossip. It's not quiet, it's not private, and it is most definitely not comfy. It was however the only hiding place I could think of as I hastily made my way out of the lunchroom. In case you are wondering, yes I walked out. It went a little like this, action wise.

Slap. Awkward silence. Look around. Everyones looking. Glance back at Deidara. He looks shocked. Walk out. Calmly. Take slow steady steps. Remember to breath. You're out. Glance around. Past that corner no one can see you. Pass the corner. Start running. Mens bathroom. No, bad idea. Girls washroom. It's safe! Run there! It's empty. Look a stall. Hide. Then wait.

I had gotten lucky. Very, very lucky, because no one had seen me go in, and it was empty when I got here. Problem now? How am I suppose to leave? Will it empty again? Or maybe not? I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket. 12:24. Lunch didn't end until 1. Was I really going to sit in here for half an hour? But... a bright shining light came off in my head. My next two classes of the day?

Science and Media. Both Deidara free. Of course, Sasori wasn't in either, but right now that's the least of my concern. Then I noticed something else.

Silence. Are they gone? I waited a moment. More silence. Yes! Quickly, I opened the stall and made my way out. I headed for the door just as it opened. I had no where to run. There wasn't enough time to hide. I decided maybe it was best to just let myself be captured.

Blond hair, long blond hair. Oh crap, don't tell me Deidara followed me in here! No. I know her! Ino! Oh crap. Ino...

"You!" Ino's eyes widened as she saw me. She probably watched the whole scene from the lunch room. Was she in love with Sasuke and Deidara? Oh this couldn't be good.

"Umm... Hi Ino." I said nervously. I expected her to start yelling at me or something like that, but then something unexpected happen. She um... she hugged me. Yes. She hugged me. Holding me at arms distance she gave me this nod as if we were soldiers on a battlefield together or something.

"You are my idol. I mean, I know we got off on the wrong foot before, but that was amazing. I mean, I've wanted to hit that jerk a couple times myself, but you..." Ino was cut off by Sakura who was standing right next to her.

"No stop it!" She said, separating me and Ino, who for some odd unexplainable reason just couldn't seem to stop hugging me.

"What is it forehead? You saw her right? She was awesome!" I blushed a little at this. No ones ever called me awesome before. Did Sasori think the same thing?

"Ino! Stop it! This is serious. Himawari, do you have any idea what you just did?" I shook my head. Ino's expression seemed to darken as though she understood just what was going on. The two shared a look and I felt my stomach tighten. I mean, I thought it was just embarrassing randomly slapping a guy in the lunch room as everyone looked on, but they made it look like I stabbed the pope or something.

"What? What did I do?" Ino nodded at Sakura, the two having some sort of telepathic conversation. Sakura glanced out the bathroom door, and then nodded.

"It's clear." She replied, and then her and Ino dragged me through a whole bunch of twists and turns until we ended up in a very quaint little room, it was too small to be a classroom, and too big to be an office. It looked sort of like a living room with couches and a coffee table spread about.

"Where are we?" I asked looking around. It was actually pretty cute.

"This is the tea clubs room." Sakura replied, sitting down on the couch. Ino pushed me down next to her and then sat down herself, so that I was between the two. I saw the serious looks on there faces and knew I wasn't going to like what they were going to say.

"So...we have a tea club?" Sakura sighed, and then hit me lightly on the back of my head.

"Be serious Himawari. Look, I know we maybe didn't get off to the best start, but you're going to have to trust us on this."

"On what?"

"If I were you I would go up to Deidara and apologize." Sakura replied solemnly.

"Why should she apologize? He probably did something to deserve it!" Ino retorted, and Sakura and her glared at each other.

"This isn't the time for pride Ino. This is serious! She should just apologize and get it over with and hope he's not to mad about it." I was beginning to get sick of this.

"Stop it!" The two instantly quieted. I wanted answers. I slapped him sure, but apologize? Hope he's not too mad about it? Why were the two of them acting so odd about it? "What's going on?" Sakura sighed, taking a deep breath.

"Himawari, have you ever heard of the Akatsuki?"


	13. Chapter 13: Just Wait

SO, yes, it took me quite a bit of a while to update, but here it is so enjoy. Also, thank you for everyone who kept telling me to update and who reviewed, if it wasn't for you guys, I probably would've left it as it was.

* * *

"There are ten members." Ino began. "We'll start from the top.

First up you have Pein." I cringed at that. His name already seemed unpleasant, but not familiar. I shook my head indicating to Ino that I didn't know who he was. "He's got orange hair and a ton of piercings. Trust me, you'll know him when you see him. He's dating Konan." I shook my head again. "She's got short blue hair, always wears a flower in it. She's really quiet for the most part, I think the only reason she hangs out with them is cause Pein's her boyfriend." Sakura rolled her eyes, smacking Ino lightly on the back of her head. She had a habit of that.

"What's the deal forehead?"

"Just stick to the important stuff Ino. She doesn't need to hear the gossip." Ino rolled her eyes but nodded.

"Pein's kind of the lead guy in all this." I interrupted her for a second.

"Is his real name actually Pein?" Ino shrugged. Sakura answered.

"I think his name is Nagato or something. But either way, no one ever calls him that and with a nickname like Pein, I doubt it's a good idea." Ino nodded.

"So, then you have Hidan." I nodded at this one. He was the silver haired guy in my math and philosophy class who swore at everything. "Kakazu." I tilted my head at this one.

"Does he have a whole bunch of scars, and always talk about money?" I asked.

"That's him alright." I nodded. He was in my philosophy class too.

"Kisame?" I nodded at that.

"He looks like shark?"

"Yeah, that about sums him up." He was in philosophy too. Was everyone in that class?

"Itachi." He was in my math class and again philosophy.

"Zetsu?" I nodded. Philosophy.

"Sasori?" I pretended like I didn't know who he was, partly because I didn't want to draw my attention to my slight obsession with him, and partly because I wanted to hear how others viewed him.

"He's the red head with the puppet fetish," Ino replied blandly, and I stared at her wide eyed. Red head? If she was referring to those gorgeous locks of crimson, then perhaps that was an accurate description, but puppet fetish? Sasori did not have a puppet fetish! What'd that even mean?! Sakura saw the surprised look on my face, and must have felt an obligation to clarify Ino's statement.

"By that she means he just really likes puppets. A lot." Sakura's words didn't really do much. I mean... how could they sum it up like that? He was an artistic genius. He was brilliant, and capable, with hands that could sculpt and chisel... oh those hands... Bad. Bad Himawari, snap out of it.

"I'm sure you two are just over exaggerating," I said, trying to get them to see just how amazing he was. It didn't work.

"No. We're really not. I mean, it's a little creepy how much he likes them. I swear I've seen him talking to them a couple of times." I decided to drop any snide comments I had. It wasn't worth it. Perhaps it was best people didn't see how amazing and talented he was. It just means more Sasori for me.

"Anyways, the last member is Deidara." Ino replied, and I winced at that. Deidara, who I had basically embarrassed in front of the entire school.

"Wait a second. You said ten." Sakura cut in." So Pein, Konan, Hidan, Kakazu, Zetsu, Itachi, Kisame, Sasori, and Deidara." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Well, my bad. I forgot Tobi." At this I had to laugh.

"Wait a second. Tobi, as in, I walk around wearing an orange mask on my face, Tobi?" Sakura and Ino nodded. "He's part of the oh so scary Akatsuki?" Ino laughed as well, obviously finding it as ridiculous as me, but Sakura's reaction was different.

"Look, don't make fun of him. I seriously think he's got like a spilt personality disorder or something. Sure, he seems all dumb and dopey most of the time, but I think it's all an act or something, because I heard him talking to Kisame, and I swear his voice changed and everything. He really gives me the creeps." Me and Ino looked at each other, and started laughing again. For once I felt like I was actually making friends, and it felt good, if only the circumstances could've been a little bit different.

"So... The akatsuki, huh?" They nodded, somberly. "So now what do I do?"

"Well... if I were you I'd go and apologize to Deidara," as soon as Sakura said the words, Ino adamantly began to disagree.

"No way, right now Himawari has the control, if I were her, I'd play it off as if it wasn't a big deal. Look, no ones ever stood up to the Akatsuki, and I mean technically, Himawari hasn't either. All she did was insult Deidara. In front of the whole school. Who knows how their going to respond? Maybe they'll think its funny or cute, maybe Deidara will just shrug it off." Slowly Sakura nodded.

"I guess your right… all we can do now is wait," I nodded at her words, but cringed as the bell rang.

"I guess we won't have to wait for long," I slowly stood up and realized with some relief, I had science for the first time. Hopefully, there wouldn't be anyone in the Akatsuki in that class. With hope in my heart I asked Sakura and Ino for the most discrete route to class and began heading in that direction.

To think, it was only my second day of school.

* * *

I know its short, but i hope you thought it was sweet. Review and let me know, and I promise you the wait for the next one won't be long :)


	14. Chapter 14: No Such Thing As Normal

It's here, and I'm sorry I'm so late, but please enjoy!

* * *

I've never considered myself particularly lucky, but as I hastily walked through those unfamiliar school halls, with my head down trying to avoid attention, I noted with relief that I'd made it to the science classroom without running into Deidara, or anyone in the Akatsuki. I looked at the classroom, fairly empty with rows of two person tables, and a variety of science apparatus strewed across them. No Akatsuki to be found.

As I took a breath of relief glad I'd found the safety of a classroom, I felt a rather large hand land rather possessively on my shoulder. I glanced up behind me, expecting the worst, and I wasn't exactly far off as I came face to chest with the large shark man. I noted the red cloud pin on his tie, the odd tattoo markings on his face, and the predatory smile he wore, his teeth looking unrealistically sharp.

"You're the girl who slappedDeidara right?" I nodded, too nervous to speak. He'd seemed intimidating from far away, but up close he was something else. Everything about him screamed danger, from his well muscled arms, to his predatory gaze. "It's Himawari isn't it?" I nodded again. "You have science with Orochimaru?" I nodded again. "Do you wanna be lab partners?" I nodded again, before I fully comprehended his words. I went to shake my head, or speak and tell him that I changed my mind, but I was a mixture of fear and apprehension. Pull yourself together Himawari, how much harm can pissing off some high school clique really do to you? But tilting my head, up, up, and up to make eye contact with Kisame told me I didn't want to find out. "Excellent," and with that he walked all the way to the back of the classroom and took the seat on the far left, leaving me the right seat in the middle row.

I sat down nervously, noting how far away and empty the teachers desk seemed. Why were they always late for class? But it seemed I'd gotten here earlier than others because the room wasn't even half filled yet. I cautiously followed after him, tentatively sitting down in my new seat, for the rest of the school year. Yay. Note the sarcasm.

"So, what'd he do?" Glancing nervously at Kisame I calmed down a little. I mean, it wasn't like he could do something in the middle of class, and to be honest he didn't even look mad or, angry, just curious and maybe even a little well… friendly?

"Pardon?"

"Ah, so you do speak, and so politely too. Deidara, what'd he do to piss you off so much?" This surprised me, I hadn't expected him to be curious.

"It's… well it's kind of a long story," he nodded towards the empty desk.

"Well, um… we met in math, oh no, but umm… it might've been philosophy and-"

"No," I glanced up at his blunt response, worried I'd said something wrong.

"No… what?"

"I don't care about the details, just sum it up,"

"Well… I umm…" I was nervous under his scrutiny, and really just waiting for the teacher to come in so I wouldn't have to answer, but I was too afraid of him to lie. "You see… I thought that… but.. Umm…."

"Just get to the point," I could hear annoyance in his tone, and after slapping Deidara in front of the whole school the last thing I wanted to do was piss off the scary shark guy so I just blurted out the truth.

"I changed in front of him, and then he hit on me after, and I got so mad I just slapped him," that seemed like an appropriate and accurate response.

"You… you changed in front him?"

"Yeah, he was mad cause I took his chair in class," I made sure to keep Sasori's name out of it, "and he spilled paint on my shirt so I changed into my sweatshirt in front of him," Kisame gave me a look that said he thought I was crazy.

"You took your top off in front of him?" I winced when he said it like that, his voice seeming to echoing and several curious glances turning in our direction.

"It's not my fault… I thought… was a…" I mumbled the last part, and Kisame leaned in closer.

"What? Speak up,"

"I said, I thought… was..a…" again my voice strayed too embarrassed to admit it.

"Oh just spit it out all ready,"

"I thought he was a girl!" Kisame stared at me for a second before taking in what I said, and instead of getting angry or offended, or any of the expected reactions, he just burst out into laughter, and boy could he laugh. His voice echoed around the room, and soon everyone was staring at us, or more accurately at him, as tears came to his eyes and he tried to catch his breath. He'd pause and take a gulp of air before breaking down into hysterics again. I could hear people whispering, wondering what was so funny, but only one individual had the actual nerve to ask Kisame, and they asked it in a very pointed way.

"Hey fish guy, what's so funny?" I glanced to the table in the back next to us, where a familiar hyperactive blond boy sat. I expected Kisame to get mad or offended, but I realized that I'd clearly misjudged him. He may look scary but for the most part he seemed rather nice.

"She flashed Deidara cause she thought he was a chick, and then slapped him when she found out he wasn't," similar to Kisame, Naruto also burst out into laughter, followed by several other people. In fact, almost everybody snickered a little, except perhaps Sasuke, whom I noted was sitting in the seat in front of us, partnered with an over enthused Ino.

There was complete silence though as a severe and overly serious looking individual entered the classroom. His eyes were dark, his air was dark, and really everything about him, from his clothes to his shoes, was dark, except the startlingly white paler of his skin.

"Afternoon class, I'll be your teacher, you can refer to me as Orochimaru-sama, or Orochimaru-sensei. I will also respond to sir, or teacher. I demand respect and obedience in this classroom, science is a difficult and complicated topic that requires dedication and extensive effort. I do not tolerate slackers, disruptions, or outburst. You have come here to learn, and that is what you shall do. My classroom is a place for knowledge, not for petty socializing, now with that being said," he began walking to the glass case on the far wall, and slowly pulled out a long coiled reptile. "Who wants to play with my snake?"

I nearly banged my head on the table, just when I'd thought for sure we'd have at least one normal teacher, he turns out to also be insane, and glancing at my new lab partner I couldn't help but wonder just what I'd gotten myself into.

* * *

So, what'd you think? Review and let me know!


	15. Chapter 15: Safe?

And She's back in the game, with a nice quick update and more on the way :p Enjoy!

* * *

Science class was oddly uneventful after that, with Orochimaru going over basic lab safety and procedure. Kisame was quiet and oddly focused throughout the period, no where near as terrifying as I expected him to be.

"So make sure to complete your pre-labs for next class, and don't forget to do the readings," I nodded jotting down all of his assigned homework in my notebook and glanced up when I heard an amused chuckle.

"Don't waste your time trying to keep up, Orochimaru always assigns a ridiculous amount of work," Kisame's tone was almost friendly, no, scratch that, it was friendly.

"I take that as a challenge," he smiled at that before laughing again and packing up his stuff.

"I'll see you next time Himawari, that is, if you're still alive by then," his tone remained playful, but there was something in his voice that came across as a warning. Maybe I wasn't as safe as I thought I was.

With his words in mine, I felt a little paranoid as I hesitantly entered the potentially dangerous halls and began walking to Health class. I was wondering if the remaining Akatsuki would be as lenient and as accepting as Kisame. Fortunately though, health was a safe zone.

* * *

"Then their lips drew closer and closer together, and Hikaru could feel his heartbeat increase, moving in time to hers. He wasn't sure where this beautiful woman had come from, but if he had made her up, if he was living a dream, he hoped he'd never wake. With shaky hands, he brazenly stroked her slender neck, his hand moving lower, dangerously close to the top of her kimono. It was already steadily unraveling and the tops of her breasts-" I was in shock. I could not believe this was actually happening. This had to be illegal, this had to break at least seven of those district school board rules. It was complete and utter trash he was reading to us, and yet it was oddly interesting. Yet, terribly, horrendously inappropriate.

Gai sensei, like the majority of the other male teachers was also out, and apparently Jiraiya was our substitute. Now where as the others had supposedly ditch school to get their hands on a certain book, our english teacher was sitting there reading aloud from it.

"Oi!" Jiraiya paused in his reading, looking up and glaring at Naruto, whose voice was as loud and attention grabbing as ever.

"What?"

"This part is stupid, can't we skip it and get back to the sword fighting stuff?" Jiraiya placed the book down and glared at the orange clad teenager.

"Naruto, this is the good part. Any good novel has a decent balance between action and romance, not to mention-"

"Yeah yeah, but can't we skip all the dumb romance stuff. I mean, this parts boring and I doubt anyone cares. Besides, who ever wrote this stuff keeps droning on and on and-"

"Whoever wrote this was a genius!"

"If by genius you meant a complete moron!" The two continued to bicker back and forth. It was an odd visual to see a boy arguing with a man more than thrice his age over such questionable literary material.

The bell rang shortly after though, and as class ended Sakura hurriedly grabbed my arm and dragged me back towards the tea room, where Ino was already waiting. It seemed this was a typical spot for them. I had a feeling that despite how much Sakura and Ino argued over Sasuke, and acted like they hated each other, that the two of them were actually very close.

"Tell us everything."

* * *

"Kisame? I look like I could eat you for dinner Kisame?" Sakura nodded at Ino's description, and oddly enough I went to his defence.

"He's actually not that bad, and he seemed really nice. He didn't seem angry at all," the two of them nodded before glancing at each other and talking silently like I knew they often did.

"That's good to know. Kisame and Itachi are good friends, so if he doesn't care, chances are Itachi won't either. I saw Kakazu and Hidan in the hallway laughing about it, so I doubt they're mad either. I guess we got all worried for nothing," was Ino's hopeful response, and a part of me jumped at her saying we. I'd always been a very closed off person. I hadn't made any new friends since the sand siblings, and I'd met them years ago. Don't get me wrong I was really great and amazing and everything, people just didn't really seem to notice. This was going to change though. First, Sakura and Ino, and soon, Sasori would be mine as well!

"Yeah, I hope so," I glanced down at my watch and frowned. "I'm running late, so I'll catch up with you guys later, sound good?" The two of them nodded before waving. I walked quickly to my locker and was surprised at who was waiting there.

"Gaara?" He nodded, tapping his foot annoyed.

"You're late," I told Kankuro I'd meet him at my locker and we'd walk home together like we usually did in middle school. It was rare for Gaara to walk with us, but not unheard of. He tended to just disappear, preferring his own company to others.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Is Kankuro not coming?"

"He had yearbook but he told me to make sure you stayed out of trouble," I rolled my eyes at him.

"I hardly get into trouble," his lips curved up for a fraction of a second, the smile leaving his lips faster than it graced it. That was one of the quirks about Gaara, he had emotions, they were just constantly fleeting. It took me a while to notice the little things, but you could tell a lot about him if you paid enough attention. Of course, you could also end up with a black eye and a concussion if you paid too much attention. He was a tricky street to walk on.

"So, is it true?" The two of us had been walking in silence, a preference more of his than mine, so I was caught a little off guard when he chose to break it.

"Is what true?"

"Did that blond guy really grope you?" My eyes widened as I stopped walking.

"Where did you hear that?" Gaara didn't pause for a second and carried on as though I hadn't reacted at all.

"I heard it at school. If it's true I'll kill him," as usual with Gaara the words were spoken as though they were simple facts and not threats. It was comforting and terrifying at the same time, a combination very common to him.

"It's not true, you know how rumors are," Gaara nodded, but returned to silence. Clearly he was no longer interested in the topic.

* * *

"Bye Gaara," I said once we arrived at my house. He vaguely acknowledged me before heading off towards his own home, less than a block away.

I glanced up at the familiar red brick building before me. It wasn't overly extravagant, but there were aspects here and there that screamed wealth. There were intricate details in the columns lining the veranda, and carvings adorning the waist high black metal fence, not to mention the designer furniture on the porch. It was one of the nicer houses in the area, as was the one next to it, with a familiar room lit up. It could only mean one thing, Sasori was home.

For those of you who've forgotten, Sasori Akasuna, the man I'm madly in love with, also happens to be my next door neighbor. Incase your wondering how I could manage to go to school with him, and live next to him, and have barely spoken to him, well, it should be a testament as to how much of a failure I am. Allow me to assure you though, that in all of the time we weren't speaking, I was watching him. No, ignore that, I was seeing him. Yes, I realize how creepy this sounds but allow me to explain in a way that you understand.

You know how there's that one super hot celebrity you have the biggest crush on? The one who was in that movie, or music video, or whatever and he just looked so good? So you decide to google him? Then you wonder if maybe there are any hot shirtless pictures of him, so you check those out, and then maybe see if he has a girlfriend, or anything like that? All standard stuff that normal people do when they're interested in a person. Now imagine your bedroom is google, and the window of your computer screen is a perfect view of your crush's bedroom with the blinds never drawn?

Okay, it's creepy. It's really creepy, borderline stalker-ish, but I mean, if an attractive man wants to walk around his room shirtless, or dripping from a shower, whom am I to deprave my eyes of such a sight? Really its his fault. If he doesn't want me watching, he should close his blinds, and in case you were wondering, shirtless Sasori is quite a sight to behold.

Look, I get that it's fairly strange, but think of it this way, when me and Sasori get married and live happily ever after this will just be one of those many funny stories between us.

As I closed my bedroom door I couldn't help but be surprised as I heard a voice. My window was open, but as always my blinds were drawn, and I steadily approached, wondering just who it was Sasori had over. As I crouched down and lifted up one of the blinds, I was surprised to see a familiar yet unpleasant face.

Deidara?

* * *

Well... what'd you think? Keep in mind that the whole 'crazy stalker' profile is intended, but is she likable character, is she believable? Let me know what you think!


	16. Chapter 16: Love Mistaken

So, there was something a bit off about this chapter, I'm not sure what it was but I wanted to get something out, so here it is and please enjoy!

* * *

Eavesdropping is bad. I get that. However, it's not really eavesdropping if I happen to be in my bedroom minding my own business and I can overhear the conversation happening in the house beside mine. Besides, it's not like they were being quiet, well at least Deidara wasn't.

"I'm going to kill her, I mean, I should want to kill her, is it bad I don't want to kill her, un?" Deidara was pacing across the floor of Sasori's bedroom, with the red head comfortably resting his pretty little head on his bed.

I had only just started listening in but I had a fair inkling that I was the female in question, and his words and tone were making me more nervous and less nervous at the same time.

"So, what exactly happened?" Sasori's voice was much lower and I had to strain against the window to hear it. Yes I was pressed up against the window, peaking through the curtains and I get that's wrong and an invasion of privacy. I just didn't care.

"So, I was pissed she wouldn't switch seats with me-"

"Which you realize she didn't have to do," It was his remarks like these that made me fall in love with him all over again.

"Either way I was pissed un, and I went to confront her, and I accidentally spilled paint on her," I scoffed at that. It was no accident.

"Accidentally?" My heart soared at hearing his word. We were on the same wave length, me and Sasori were completely in sync. This was clearly the world telling us that we were meant for each other.

"Okay, so I spilled it on her, but like I said, I was pissed, un. So, instead of getting all… I don't know, distraught or whatever, she takes her shirt off and starts bitching at me." I wanted to argue but thinking back I guess Deidara's representation of the situation was still relatively accurate.

"She yelled at you?"

"Yes, un."

"And you thought that was her coming onto you?"

"…It doesn't make sense when you say it like that un," It was strange hearing the anger fade from Deidara's voice, but I guess Sasori just had the ability to calm everyone around him. "So, she wasn't playing hard to get. She just didn't like me," I saw Sasori nod through the blinds, and hearing this conversation I couldn't help but be grateful to him. "Is it weird that knowing she doesn't like me makes me like her?" I frowned at Deidara's logic wanting to hit him. I understood bro code, I knew how this system of stuff worked. If Deidara liked me, I was off limits to Sasori and there was no way I was going to let that blond jerk get in the way of true love.

"I think you'd be wasting your time," my eyes widened at Sasori's comment. I realized that I had stumbled upon complete unedited access into the male psych. I might actually figure out what he actually thought of me.

"Oh yeah, you went to school with her before, right?" Sasori nodded. "What's she like?"

"To be honest I don't know her that well, but she's a bit of a bookworm from what I gather. I've also never seen her really talk to anyone outside of the sand siblings," I was a bit disappointed in Sasori's perceptions of me. I mean, technically they were accurate. I was a bit of a bookworm and I did have very few friends… okay no friends outside of the sand siblings, but that didn't sound all that exciting or entertaining.

"None of that sounds like a deal breaker, so why would I be wasting my time?"

"You've never met the sand siblings have you?"

"Yeah, there's that bitchy blond and that computer geek right?" I winced at his descriptions. Sure Temari could be a little aggressive and self-assertive, but I don't think I'd call her bitchy, and Kankuro was a lot more than just a tech-savvy sort of guy.

"There's Gaara as well," I noticed a change then.

"Gaara? Was that the red head who threatened me?" Sasori nodded nonchalantly, but my ears couldn't help but perk up at that comment. Gaara had threatened Deidara?

"I didn't know that psycho had friends," Sasori nodded.

"He has very few but he's very protective of them."

"So the reason I'm wasting my time?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she's in love with him," this stopped me in my tracks.

"…You think Himawari is in love with Gaara?" This could not be happening. This could most certainly not be happening. All these years of being madly in love with the glory that is Sasori only to find out he questions my affections and thinks that I've fallen for another man… and Gaara? Why would he think I was in love with Gaara?

Before I could contemplate this anymore I was awaken from my revere by the sound of my doorbell ringing.

* * *

hope you enjoyed it, and for those of you offering my critics in the reviews thank you so much, I really appreciate it. Please review and let me know what you think, if you think the characters are accurate, or if you anything to comment about the writing style or grammar, I really appreciate any feedback! I hope you enjoyed :)


	17. Chapter 17: Gaara

I'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, but it's here! To be honest with everyone, i'm not exactly sure just where i'm going with this story, but i hope you're enjoying the ride! There's a little more insight into AU Gaara, I hope you like it!

* * *

He thought I was in love with Gaara. The man I'd had feelings for, perhaps for the better part of my existence thought I was in love with another person? Before I could hear his reasoning, understand just why he thought the way he did, my door bell rang again. Sombrely I walked down the stairs and opened the door allowing Kankuro in, but too dazed to actually greet him.

Did this mean it was over? Did this mean that all my years of pining for Sasori were wasted? All those years of 'anonymously' stuffing christmas cards and valentine hearts into his locker in middle school? Or sending him secret candy grams? All those pictures I drew of us together, trying to get better at art, or all of those pages scrawled with ' Akasuna'. Yes, I know I'm creepy, but I was in love. Really, really in love, I mean, this was the man for me. He was good looking, sweet, charismatic, and… and I wasn't going to let this get in the way of true love. This was just a set back, a minor hiccup in our future together, nobody said love was easy, of course it was going to be hard.

I had to be logical about this. Why would he think I was in love with Gaara? It must've been because he was the only boy I spent any time with. Sure I hung out with Kankuro, but me and Gaara were in the same grade. From elementary school to middle school, we'd always have class together, and we'd always sit together, and of course Sasori would think that.

It was better I learned this now then later, thank good fate had intervened. Sure I had to eavesdrops on his conversation and invade his privacy to learn it, but the fact that I had the chance meant it was fate. Clearly the Universe is helping us get together-

"Himawari… are you alright?" I glanced up surprised to see Kankuro there, but I shook it off. I was wasting valuable resources sitting here freaking out about details. I had a man to make mine and there was no way I wasn't going to succeed.

"I will be, this is just a setback in loves plan," with that said I hurriedly raced up the stairs, eager to hear the rest of the conversation and hoping I hadn't missed too much.

"Okay, I'll get started on dinner!" I waved him off, only vaguely aware of what he was referring to. Sliding into my room I crawled back into my position under the window, ready to resume from where I'd left off.

"Crazy! So he grabs me, un, shoves me against the locker, and basically goes on this tangent that if I go near her again he'll slit my throat. So, first off he totally caught me off guard, otherwise I would've beaten the shit out of him, but the whole throat thing? Who the hell says shit like that, un?" It seemed that they'd gone and changed the subject and my eyes widened as I tried to figure out just what they were talking about. "I mean, if him and Himawari have a thing I guess it'd make a lot more sense," I understood then that they must've been referring to Gaara. My eyes widened at that, because not only was that a quite a risky thing to do, but Gaara had acted so nonchalant that I didn't even realize anything had happened. Sasori chuckled at that.

"Yeah, he's always been protective of her, but I uh… wouldn't take him so lightly if I was you. He's actually a little on the psychotic side, he stabbed a pencil through a kids hand in sixth grade," I winced at the memory, very familiar with it. I was partially responsible for that.

"Why, un?"

"I think the kid was giving Himawari a hard time and out of nowhere, Gaara tells him to shut up and go away. Usually people know he's not a little right in the head and just do what he says and leave him alone, but this guy didn't know any better and instead eggs him on. Gaara just grabs the pencil and stabs it right through his hand, and I mean clear through," Sasori's description was accurate, completely accurate actually. Gaara had a bit of a temper, and it wasn't one that anyone should take lightly. He'd mellowed out a bit, or at least as mellow as Gaara got, but on his off days everyone knew to tread carefully.

"So what happened to him, un?"

"I think he got stitches or something, but he was in the hospital for awhile and switched schools shortly after."

"No no, un. I meant to Gaara. He didn't get kicked out or anything?" Now here comes the other interesting fact about the sand siblings.

"The school wouldn't dare, their father's kind of a big deal. He's really high up in politics, and I mean really high up," the sand siblings father was currently head of state for Sunagakure, overseeing and running almost everything that happened within the whole district. He wasn't the kind of man you'd want to get on the bad side of.

"Huh, and that's the guy she's dating?" My eyes widened at that. When had I gone from being in love with Gaara to dating him? Sasori was going about this all the wrong way, but did this mean that maybe this was why he hadn't made a move on me? Because he thought I was with Gaara? Either way I had to figure out a way to fix this, but I wasn't sure how to go about doing it. I wasn't good at this stuff and neither was Temari, and other than her I didn't really have girls to… wait a second! I thought of Sakura and Ino and how helpful they were today. They seemed like normal girls, girls who knew how to deal with situations like these. Could I tell them though? Realistically I'd only really known them for two days, nowhere near long enough for us to be considered close, but that didn't change the fact that they'd had my back in todays situation. I wonder if maybe-

"Himawari!" My eyes widened as Kankuro screamed my name, loud and panicked. I shot up from my position by the window and headed downstairs but not before I heard Deidara mutter something along the lines of "did you just hear that, un?"

"Kankuro, what is it? I was in the middle of…" as I rushed into the kitchen I realized exactly just why he'd screamed and as I stared at the fire atop the frying pan I hastily grabbed and poured baking soda on it, relieved when it went out easily. "What… why're you even in the kitchen? Why are you trying to cook?" If there was one thing I was sure of it was that cooking was not something any of the sand siblings were good at.

"I told you I'd get started on dinner!" I winced vaguely recalling letting him in and hearing his comment.

"Yep, I should've known better. Here, put that away," I stared at the crunchy, burned mess too disturbed to ask what he was trying to cook in the first place. "Clean that and grab a baking tray. I told Gaara I'd make lasagna tonight," and with that I focused on cooking. I would figure this whole Sasori thing out later, and everything would be okay, like I said before, this was just a minor setback.

* * *

"And then we put it in the oven, and we wait," I glanced up at Kankuro who was sitting on top of the kitchen counter, playing on one of his hand held games. "You came over pretty early, what was the deal with that?" He shrugged.

"I had some yearbook stuff and then just came here straight after. Dad's flight gets in today and I'm not exactly in the mood to deal with him," I nodded understanding. It was a while before Kankuro was able to confide in me his almost tangible hatred for his father. It was sad to know that a son could loath a parent so much, but it was something all the sand siblings had in common. I'd met him a couple of times, and he was always kind and polite, and by all effects the ideal father. From what I heard from them though, he was a man who relied heavily on appearances.

"Ha, I've got something even worse," I said, trying to lighten the mood. He looked up, brown eyes curious.

"Oh yeah?"

"Sasori thinks I'm in love with Gaara," there was an odd pause in Kankuro before he burst out into laughter.

"And how do you know this?"

"I overheard him and Deidara talking in his room," Kankuro nodded, realizing what I meant.

"You know it's really creepy to eavesdrop, especially when you live like right next to the guy," I nodded, but the smile on Kankuro's face told me he was more amused than anything. "So, why does he think this?"

"I don't know, some obnoxious jerk rang the doorbell at the best part," he laughed at that, shrugging his shoulders.

"Doing my part to keep your life interesting," he paused though and looked as though he had something else he wanted to say, he was cut off though by the doorbell ringing.

"I'll get it. It's probably your siblings, come to get their hands on my delicious cooking," Kankuro laughed before shrugging his shoulders.

"Would you be so cruel to leave us to Temari's cooking?"

"That's sexist you know!"

I was laughing at our conversation as I opened the door, not seeing the blond or the red head I expected to.

"Deidara? Sasori? What… what a surprise…" Now was that an understatement.

* * *

Ta-da! Did anyone see that coming? Do you think the characters are coming along well? Is it all realistic? Please review let me know if you enjoy it!


	18. Chapter 18: Apologize

Hi guys, sorry for the delay but you know how life can just be hectic. Anyways, here's the update so enjoy!

* * *

"Hi Himawari, we hope we're not interrupting anything," Sasori's voice was as charming and smooth as always, and I could feel my tension float away. Then I noticed the fidgety blond next to him and all of my anxiety returned. What were they doing here?

"Not at all Sasori, how can I do you?" Wow, I mean, I always say his name in my head but saying his name aloud and to him is a lot more exciting, it kind of just rolls off the tongue. Why is he looking at me like that? And why is Deidara snickering?

"I think what Himawari meant to say is, what can we do for you?" I nodded at Kankuro not following. Isn't that… wait no… did I just ask… 'How can I do you?' I didn't… I could feel my cheeks burning up as I realized just how royally I screwed up. I glanced up at Kankuro who was a good couple inches taller than me and currently my idol. Excellent recovery on his part. "I'm sure you can imagine why the two of you caught her off guard," I nodded agreeing with him, a little too nervous to speak. The two of them awkwardly glanced at each other. Clearly they had a purpose for coming here, but they both seemed hesitant about confessing whatever it was. I noticed Sasori nudge Deidara who after flinching began to speak.

"We actually…" Another nudge, "I mean I, came here to um… apologize," I glanced at Kankuro suspiciously. I'd been eavesdropping on their conversation and this hadn't been mentioned in the slightest. Clearly though I'd missed a fair amount when I started preparing dinner. Just how much I missed I wasn't sure.

"Apology accepted," I didn't do well with confrontation or awkward situations. I know it's absolutely terrible but it was the reason I had such few friends. The sand siblings for all their quirks, were very low maintenance. I liked stuff simple and it was the only thing I really knew. I didn't know how to hold grudges or be vindictive, and even if I did know I doubt I'd be very good at it.

"Woah, woah, woah. Not so fast there Himawari," I glanced up at Kankuro not sure just what he was getting at or where he was coming from. "What exactly are you apologizing for?" There was a part of Kankuro that really liked to make people squirm, to the point where it was almost sadistic. This was clearly a situation where he was in control and loving every bit of it. Deidara seemed caught off guard and annoyed by the question but he gruffly gave a response.

"I'm sorry for spilling paint on you, and for umm… all those rude things I said to you earlier," I was glancing back and forth between the blond and the red head trying to grasp what was going on but feeling like I was clearly missing something. If only I could go back in time and eavesdrop on their conversation. The sand siblings could starve for a night if it meant I got some answers.

"Apology accepted, oh, and I'm sorry I thought you were a woman," I said the last part as an after thought but then winced at how bluntly it came out. This is why we can't have nice things Himawari, not when you blunder encounters with every newcomer that you meet. I could see Deidara's fist tighten at my comment and I subtly moved behind Kankuro just in case. Sasori nudged Deidara again and he seemed to calm down.

"I forgive you," I nodded, still awkwardly hidden behind Kankuro. I glanced up at him waiting for him to do something. I won't deny I can be a little socially inept, and I didn't think asking them to leave would be the best or most polite form of action, nor was asking them just why they were here in the first place.

"Well, with that being said we're actually making dinner and not only is Himawari an excellent cook but she always makes extra," I nodded vaguely trying to hide my inner panic attack. There was a part of me that realized how romantic it would be to feed Sasori my cooking in my own house, and then there was the other part of me that screamed 'it's a trap!' and I wasn't sure which one to believe. There was something about this that was just a little off to me and I wasn't sure why or what it was.

"We wouldn't want to intrude," there was something in Sasori's voice, as appealing as it was that said a decline was coming, and the fantasy of me spooning him his food was too tempting to throw away.

"Not at all! I'd love to feed you," the awkwardness seeped out and I realized again how odd it sounded, but fortunately no one commented on it.

"Well, in that case dinner sounds great. What're we having?" Where Sasori was tactful and reserved Deidara was aggressively confident and forward. They were a peculiar mixture, but somehow they melded well together.

"Lasagna," was Kankuro's curt reply as he stepped away and ushered them into the hallway. At this small motion though I began growing self-conscious. I was used to the sand siblings coming over, to have them visit didn't feel like having guests. So naturally I didn't clean anything, and while I'm generally a neat freak it felt vulnerable to have them walk around my house without my ability to prepare. I did well with plans and lists and all that stuff. I wasn't the spontaneous type, and as crazy as it sounds, having Sasori and Deidara over for dinner was one of the more exciting things I've done in my life. Please don't judge. Don't get me wrong, in my mind I can be down right insane, but when Sasori summed me up as a 'quiet bookworm' he wasn't all that far off.

"Wow that lasagna smells really good," Sasori's offhanded comment sent my heart racing. I tried to hide the blush on my cheeks but it was kind of hard to do when the boy I've been madly in love with praises me like that. Now I know that when we get married he'll be more than satisfied with my cooking, which, just like our marriage, will only get better with time. Oh how love works in funny ways.

"Yeah it smells great, way better than this guys cooking," I wanted to ignore Deidara but his comment was actually interesting.

"Do you not cook, Sasori?" The red head opened his mouth to answer but he was cut off.

"He's tried a couple times, but he's just awful at it. I mostly do the cooking," This time I did ignore Deidara.

"Your parents are usually out of town though, aren't they?" I could see Sasori start to blush and I realized that maybe I might've made another awkward mistake. I turned to face Kankuro and he shrugged. It was common knowledge that Sasori's parents travel so it wouldn't have been a creepy comment.

"Um… yeah, they work away from home a fair amount," I nodded then, trying to piece together Sasori's life.

"So what'd you usually do for food?" He glanced around again, awkwardly blushing. I glanced at Kankuro who again shrugged. Usually when I said something socially inappropriate he would give me a look or intervene, but clearly it was just Sasori acting strange. He went to answer again, but just like before Deidara responded for him.

"Take out, and a lot of frozen meals," I glanced at the chatter mouth annoyed with all his interruptions. I turned back to Sasori and said the single greatest thing I've ever said in my life.

"I usually have a lot of leftovers, and I'm a pretty good cook. If you want I can bring some over sometime," smooth Himawari. Smooth. If this works soon bringing him leftovers will turn into cooking him dinner and the two of you will be getting married before you know it.

"That actually sounds really nice," Sasori's answer was a lot quicker than usual, and noting this he blushed again and then added in "But, not if it's any trouble," I smiled at him and waved it off.

"Not at all, I'd love to. I can even show you how to cook sometime," at this point Sasori got redder than usual, and Kankuro gave my side a quick little squeeze. Too strong Himawari, don't over do it. Be cool, be cool.

"So… is the lasagna almost ready?" Kankuro's interjection fit in perfectly, and I realized that he was excellent at diverting awkward conversations. I realized it was a trait I had helped him master.

I glanced at the timer and nodded up at him. "Yep, it's ready to go," and with that I reached for my gloves and opened up the oven. As I lifted it out and placed it on top of the stove, I glanced up to see everyones attention diverted towards the hallway. I may've missed the sound of the door opening, but it was clear to me that Gaara had arrived, and judging by the look on his face he was not in a very good mood.

"What're they doing here?"

* * *

Does anyone have any thoughts on Himawari and Gaara's relationship? Also, did I nail Sasori or Deidara? What about Himawari and Kankuro, I think they've got a nice friendship going. Give me your thoughts! Any ideas as to what Sasori and Deidara are up to?


	19. Chapter 19: Unstable

Here's the update, enjoy!

* * *

When it came to awkward situations, like usual, it was Kankuro to the rescue.

"Hey Gaara, Deidara and Sasori came to apologize for what happened earlier, and I invited them in for dinner," there was a slight tremor in his voice and I could tell that Kankuro was nervous about the situation as well. In all of my dealings with Gaara and his temper, I've never once been worried about my own safety, everyone else around me though… that was a constant fear. I would not deny that the boy could be a little… unstable at times.

Gaara's gaze remained sharp and consistent, not swayed at all by Kankuro's placating words, which seemed to fall upon deaf ears. It suddenly dawned on me why this may not have been such a good idea.

"That was terribly nice and diplomatic of them. I think they should leave though," his response was eloquent and polite and very well put together. It was the tone of voice and type of conversation he reserved exclusively for his father and if anything set Gaara off edge it was his father. In other situations I could trust Gaara to simmer down and be respectful, but I found that any incident in which Gaara lashed out or hurt anyone, it was only after dealing with the man who gave him life. The Kazekage of Suna was the match to Gaara's fuse, and it was a short fuse at that.

"Look, Gaara," there was something snide and mocking about the way Deidara said his name, and I could practically feel the tension in the room. I glanced at Kankuro, waiting for him to rectify the situation like he usually did but he seemed just as on edge as everyone. I knew that I'd never had to worry about Gaara's temper, but it was something that the sand siblings dealt with on a constant basis. It quelled since he got older, but the rages he got to in his younger days were nothing to scoff at, and something Kankuro clearly hadn't forgotten. "They were kind enough to invite us to dinner and-" I cut him off before he could finish, seeing Gaara clenching his fists and knowing he was looking for physical ways to vent his anger.

"Gaara's right," whether it was my words or the sound of my voice that shook Gaara from his daze I'm not sure but he glanced up at me, clearly caught off guard. "The four of us made plans for dinner and it was terribly rude of us to invite guests without consenting the whole group. I'm really sorry, but maybe another time?" The words were spoken with stutters and pauses as I tried to coherently come up with a valid excuse as to why they had to leave, and with Gaara's foul temper it was clear to me that they had to leave. There was an awkward moment of silence where Deidara and Sasori stared at me, before glancing at each other. The two of them seemed to communicate silently in a way I'd normally be jealous of if I wasn't so caught off guard by the entire situation.

There was a part of me that was wondering if I was being overdramatic. It seemed silly to imagine that everyone couldn't sit down and eat a meal, but I knew Gaara. I knew his temper and I knew his moods. He could normally behave himself, but when he was on edge, it was the smallest thing that could set him off. The pencil episode that Sasori mentioned was just one in a long list of incidents. He'd been getting counselling and therapy and long string of medications I was almost sure he didn't bother taking. When it came to Gaara it was always better to be safe than sorry, and believe me, you would be sorry.

With their silent conversation the two seemed to come to an agreement, and very slowly they both stood.

"Thank you for the invite Himawari, I'm sure we'll see you at school tomorrow," I nodded and smiled awkwardly, trying to down play the absurdity of the situation, but I held my breath as they slowly made their way past Gaara and out the front door. I exhaled when the door was shut softly behind them, and took in the tense atmosphere in the room. I smiled as nonchalantly as I could before slowly picking up the lasagne and moving it onto the counter.

"Whose hungry?"

* * *

So... what'd you think of the Gaara situation? I get that it's an AU but I wanted to try and keep it as close to canon as I could, so let me know if you think the the characters are realistic enough! Review and let me know!


End file.
